


The Greatest Mistake

by JessicaPendragon



Series: Dorxus [6]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6936499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaPendragon/pseuds/JessicaPendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He has made many mistakes, more than he’ll ever willingly admit lest others catch wind of his own limitations, and he can’t decide if this latest action deserves to be added to the ledger. He doesn’t want it to be another wrong doing of Dorian Pavus, formerly of Minrathous and currently of the second floor library of Skyhold, and that perhaps is the most foolish thing of all.</p><p>
  <a href="http://jessicapendragon.tumblr.com/post/139402578009/the-greatest-mistake">Tumblr Link</a>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Greatest Mistake

He has made many mistakes, more than he’ll ever willingly admit lest others catch wind of his own limitations, and he can’t decide if this latest action deserves to be added to the ledger. He doesn’t want it to be another wrong doing of Dorian Pavus, formerly of Minrathous and currently of the second floor library of Skyhold, and that perhaps is the most foolish thing of all.

The memory of seeing his father again fills his fermented thoughts, the angry words mixing particularly well with this latest vintage - sharp, with a hint of wood smoke from all that’s turned to ash, but it is the taste of the Inquisitor’s lips that lingers the most. It won’t wash away no matter how hard he tries, a stubborn stain upon his heart like wine across cloth.

_You have to fight for the things in your heart._

He drowns his embarrassment with a long swig. Maker but it had been so easy to say lost within the aches of the past and seeing the present before him and realizing what he really wanted was to reach out and take what was being offered. He does not fear it to be false, oh no. He knows duplicity and the shape of lies on his tongue, and there was only truth and conviction on the Inquisitor’s. He fears how much he wants for this to be his, for how much he hopes for it. Having hope is the greatest mistake one can make.

A day passes before he runs into the object of his current crisis. Dorian hasn’t risked leaving the library for this very reason and yet it is practically the first thing that happens when he makes a dash for it. They collide in the bottom of the rotunda, arms jumping out to catch and then falling away just as fast. It’s all a little awkward, but he _is_ a Pavus after all, and they are good at misdirection.

“He finally appears! Avoiding me, are you? I imagine it’s a difficult thing to deprive oneself of my presence.”

“Dorian.” The anointed Herald of Andraste clears his throat, the high lines of his cheeks painted red. “I was on my way to see Leliana and I…how are you?”

“Fine, all things considered. A good bottle of port gets one by most regrets.” Vax shifts on his feet, like he might step closer, like he wants to, but cannot feel the rhythm of this dance. “And you? Do you have any regrets?”

There is no hesitation in him in answering, however, eyes unyielding like the forged steel of his sword, and the sight has Dorian wishing he felt just a spark of that conviction for _anything_. “No, not at all. I understand if you might not feel the same way. Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ah,” he replies at length, unwilling to tarnish such a thing with his family’s legacy of loathing and not quite knowing what to say without it. He’s a little stunned to say the least, to be offered something without the thought of compensation. Mostly it’s the open, adoring, absolutely insufferable smile facing him now that has him at a loss.

Vax mumbles something he doesn’t quite catch and moves to squeeze by and up towards his initial destination. Before he can get far Dorian wraps fingers around a retreating wrist and chases after the taste of something more in a mouth that parts willingly for his, in a touch that promises things others tried to make forbidden, and despite his best efforts hope finds him again.

It’s utterly impulsive, ill considered, and will likely end in misery, but if this is a mistake let it be the greatest one he’s ever made. 


End file.
